Hi I too have an iMac 27 and have had 3 screens replaced during my extended Applecare warrantee. I suspected that the problem was dust! Now that I'm off the dole, I'd like to prevent the problem. Do you have any source for the HEPPA filter you mentioned? I would like to try that prophelactic proceedure. Pete

I purchased an iMac 21.5" in August of 2010. It had given me some problem initially but recently my LCD screen started smudging and the colors diffused. Took it to a local apple service station and they said that you have to replace the LCD panel which costs half the cost of the computer.

The DVD R/W drive also is broken down. I must have used it only 7 to 8 times in my lifetime.

I have ready many posts and it seems that this problem has been faced by many especially in the computers manufactured around 2010.

Is apple considering giving freel LCDs for the manufacturing or design defect? Anybody...

Hi Upendra9, unfortunately Apple is doing nothing for anyone unless they have Apple Care, from what I am following. Your problem seems to be different from what most people are experiencing. Colours are not being diffused as you say. The grey smudges are a result of a manufacturing problem but it looks like we are on our own and just have to live with it.

Can you imagine a hospital looking at MRI scans or X-rays and trying to determine if the person has a spot on their lung or it's just a smudge caused by this issue? This is simply uneceptable!

my second iMac shows the exact same signs as described here. The funny thing is, that the same problem occured with the iMacs before 2011. In addition, other generations seem to be affcted by the problem too.

I do not understand, how the former most valuable company cannot handle a simple design issue in all these years. I cannot shake off the feeling, that this issue is either intended or ignored.

Apple displays itself as a premium brand. So far, Samsung has disappointed me far less than Apple. The fact that without additional warranties you are being treated as "noise" shows me that you do not really care about your less profitable customers.

It is things like this that are behind massive fall in share price over the last year. Apple is outing itself to be a cheap manufacturer of products, assembled in factories that no american would set foot in. So what we get is dust coated in and marketed as gold.

My decision is final. I will never again pay any money to your company. I am sick of paying an absurd premium for quality, that is average at best. The issue with the iMac was the last straw. I already started the process of changing my IT infrastrucutre next to encouraging people to stay away from Apple products.

The smoke is gone and what is left is the truth about quality of apple products. And your marketing machinery will not convince me otherwise.

So, maybe you are starting to get a sense of why your share price is crumbling, and your market shares drop.

I purchased my Mid-2010 iMac in September 2010 and started to notice the dreaded grey smudging in the top corners and across the bottom of the screen earlier this year. I didn't purchase AppleCare so I assumed that because my 1 year warranty was long gone I would have to pay for any repairs. I was about to follow one of the tutorials and attempt to split the screen and clean it myself...

However, after reading about the UK Sale of Goods Act 1979 - this states that the goods must be of 'satisfactory quality' and 'fit for purpose' for the entirety of a 'reasonable lifespan', up to a maximum of six years - I thought I would try my luck at the Genius Bar. I'm happy to say that I've just returned from the Meadowhall Apple Store, Sheffield ..where they agreed to replace the LCD panel free of charge! I didn't even have to mention the Sale of Goods Act - there is a Quality Program (RS83) for this issue and they didn't even question the age of the machine, which is now 1 month short of three years old!

The repair would normally cost £275 + £24 labour. All in all, I received fantastic customer service and I'm very happy with the outcome.

I don't think you will find a more devoted Mac user than my family. We own a 3rd generation iPod Nano, 2 first generation iPads, an Apple TV3, a late 2008 Macbook, a 21.5 inch early 2008 iMac, and a 27 inch mid 2011 iMac. All of which have been working flawlessly until recently.

Can you guess what the problem might be? That's right, another smudge-marked Apple iMac display.

I've taken some out of focus pictures which look far too familiar to the rest of the photos in this post.

Now of course, I do not have Apple Care which means that according to the Apple Genius that I spoke to today means that I will have to pay $500 for a new display. Very unusual since my 2008 iMac looks exactly as it did 5 years ago and it was purchased refurbished from the Apple Store online!

I will attempt to pusue this with Apple since 73 pages on a support forum is far from coincidental.

My enthusiasm for Apple had taken a severe blow and I'm not sure that Apple realizes how important solving an issue like really is. There are many Mac users like myself who are questionning the future of Apple after the premeture departure of Steve Jobs and wonder whether the previous inginuity and creativity will be part of the Apple future.

When my coffee arrives lukewarm at a restaurant, I don't complain. If the server messes up my order, I'll eat it anyway. But when I purchase what I beleive to be a quality product from Apple, I don't expect it to begin to fail in 2 years. I will let you know what my follow-up coversation will be like with Apple. My hope is that they will decide to support loyal customers by making things right.

Well, I've learned to somehow live with this (avoinding plain and uniform backgrounds, etc.) but sometimes it gets (more) on my way and it really annoys me (more). Like it happened just now: I downloaded the OmniWriter app for writing without being distracted (a very nice app, by the way, if you don't know it) and there they were, in the background, ruining everything and destroying the whole purpose of the program — of course you can't concentrate when instead of a neutral gray screen you have something that is stained all over.

This is my second screen. I got the first one replaced because of the same problem just when the warranty was expiring. But it happened again to the replacement after a few weeks. I couldn't interrupt the work I was doing, so I let the 3 month warranty expire and I got stuck with it. I don't have Apple Care either.

I don't smoke, and the iMac is not in a particular wet or dusty environment.Here it is, my "leopard-skin desktop iMac", then:

Your screen looks exactly like mine does. I'm in the same situation that it is tough for me to be without my computer for another week while Apple fixes my defective merchandise AGAIN. I've taken screen shots of my screen (with an all white background) as a test and when I open those pics on my iPhone the smudge marks are not there. This means it is either dead pixels or contamination between the LCD and the screen protector. Whatever it is, it is total B.S.

With all the components Apple is cramming into that small form factor I'd imagine your screen will get worse and worse.

Looks to me like Apple just wants to make computers that look cool on movies and tv shows (where the logo gets blocked out half the time anyways so anyone that's not into tech will just think it's only a monitor). Way to go Ives!

My son showed me today that there is a triangular area in the lower right portion of the screen on his mid-2010 27" iMac. The 3-year mark was up just one month ago. Sunlight has never touched the screen, and he has been meticulous in caring for it.

If Apple won't make an accommodation for me after I have been with them since 1978 and have bought well over two dozen Macs, I'll never buy another Apple product. There is clearly a design flaw present.

This morning 7 September I but booked an appointment with the genius bar in Basingstoke , England. It turns out it is a known issue of particulates being drawn in through unsealed edges between the screens. Because apple acknowledge this as a quality control oversight (lets say) they have placed this on a QUALITY PROGRAM, meaning they will replace the LCD screen free of charge (£365) even if it is out of warranty but within some 3 year period of purchase date.

Sorted - one more happy and still loyal UK customer - MASSIVE GOLD STAR TO APPLE.

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